Indigenous Services Minister Patty Hajdu says the number of COVID-19 infections in First Nations communities has begun to decline, bringing hope that the worst of the Omicron wave has passed.
Hajdu says she understands why Indigenous leaders are worried that progress could be lost in regions where provincial governments are rapidly moving to lift public health orders.
"Indigenous leaders obviously are concerned," Hajdu said during a news conference Thursday.
Daily active case counts in Indigenous communities have declined 13.2 per cent from last week. Hajdu cautioned there is still need for vigilance as some communities deal with significant outbreaks.
"There are still areas of the country where cases are rising and in communities where the community spread risk remains a challenge," she said.
In Saskatchewan, the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations and other tribal councils have called on the provincial government to reverse its plan to ease public health orders. They say the plan puts First Nations at a greater risk.
"Our northern communities have been some of the hardest hit in the province since the beginning of this pandemic," Meadow Lake Tribal Council Chief Richard Ben said in a news release.
"Ending or changing the public health measures without proper consultation from First Nations and their leadership is only going to create more outbreaks."
Saskatchewan announced earlier this week that it will scrap its COVID-19 vaccine passport policy on Monday and end nearly all orders, including indoor mask mandates, by the end of the month.
Maskwacis Health Services, which provides support to four First Nations in central Alberta, put out a notice Thursday that hospitalizations in the community are near the highest they've been in the pandemic. At the same time, vaccination rates are lagging, the notice said.
"Lifting restrictions at this time in Maskwacis, from a public health perspective, is not optimal," it said.
Proof-of-vaccination requirements and capacity limits at most venues ended in Alberta on Wednesday. Masks will no longer be mandatory in all settings for children under 12 and for all students in schools starting Monday.
Hajdu said it's a "tricky point in the pandemic." Governments and communities are grappling with how best to protect citizens, she said.
She said her department will support Indigenous communities.
An important part of that will be to continue to support vaccination efforts to get people a third dose, she said. As of Tuesday, more than 86 per cent of people 12 and older in First Nations communities had received a second dose of vaccine and 23 per cent had a booster shot.
Even with the high level of protection through vaccinations, First Nations health experts have been closely watching the spread of the Omicron variant.
The second and third waves of the pandemic led to higher rates of infection, hospitalizations and deaths among Indigenous people in many areas of the country.
Dr. Marcia Anderson, public health lead of pandemic response for Manitoba First Nations, said in a recent online video that First Nations people continue to be overrepresented in hospitalizations and intensive care stays.
But, due to the effectiveness of the vaccine, the percentage of people with COVID-19 who end up in hospital has been lower than during other waves, she said.
Dr. Tom Wong, chief medical officer of public health for Indigenous Services Canada, said vaccinations, masking, physical distancing and other measures, have kept the worst of the Omicron variant at bay on many reserves.
"With continued collective efforts, we are going to get through this Omicron wave together."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 10, 2022.
This story clarifies the role of Dr. Tom Wong. An earlier version said he was Canada's chief medical officer of public health. He is in fact Indigenous Services Canada's chief medical officer of public health.
The federal firearm buyback program has cost taxpayers nearly $67.2 million since it was announced in 2020, but it still hasn't collected a single gun.
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The province's public security minister said he was "shocked" Thursday amid reports that a body believed to be that of a 14-year-old boy was found this week near a Hells Angels hideout near Quebec City.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police has lost 205 firearms since 2020, including more than 120 handguns and at least five fully automatic weapons like machine-guns.
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B.C.'s police watchdog is investigating the death of a woman who was shot by the RCMP after allegedly barricading herself in a room with a toddler early Thursday morning.
An Ontario man says it is 'unfair' to pay a $1,500 insurance surcharge because his four-year-old SUV is at a higher risk of being stolen.
In the middle of the small crowd — near the tents, the lineup of kids awaiting face painting, the snack table — stood a jubilant Chiara Padovani. 'When I say 'tenant, you say 'power,'' she commanded to several dozen tenants, who chanted back with gusto. What looked like a summer block party in front of two north-end Toronto apartment buildings last month was a celebration of what renters who withheld payments for months called a 'huge victory.'
The University of Ottawa's special advisor on antisemitism says he has resigned following posts he made on social media celebrating the pager explosions in Lebanon this week.
B.C.'s police watchdog is investigating the death of a woman who was shot by the RCMP after allegedly barricading herself in a room with a toddler early Thursday morning.
Friends and strangers have set up a makeshift memorial outside the home of a five-year-old boy who was found dead yesterday in Coteau-du-lac.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police has lost 205 firearms since 2020, including more than 120 handguns and at least five fully automatic weapons like machine-guns.
The lawyer for a B.C. RCMP officer convicted of obstruction for telling a witness to delete cellphone video following the violent 2017 arrest of Dale Culver has requested a stay of proceedings.
Israel warned U.S. Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin in a call Tuesday that a military operation was going to take place in Lebanon but gave no details, U.S. officials said Thursday. The same day of the call, in an attack widely blamed on Israel, thousands of pagers belonging to Hezbollah militants exploded.
A federal law enforcement agency confirmed it's opened an investigation into Robert F. Kennedy Jr. after he allegedly cut off the head of a dead whale and took it home two decades ago.
A judge in a rural Kentucky county was shot and killed in his courthouse chambers Thursday, and the local sheriff was charged with murder, police said.
A 22-year-old woman who became an abortion rights advocate after she was raped by her stepfather as a child tells her story in a new campaign ad for Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris.
South Korea’s government, western countries and adoption agencies worked in tandem to supply some 200,000 Korean children to parents overseas, despite years of evidence they were being procured through questionable or downright unscrupulous means, an investigation led by The Associated Press found.
Chris Knayzeh was in a town overlooking Lebanon's capital when he heard the rumbling aftershock of the 2020 Beirut port blast. Hundreds of tons of haphazardly stored ammonium nitrates had exploded, killing and injuring thousands of people.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tapped Treasury Board President Anita Anand to take on additional duties as Canada's minister of transport on Thursday.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh got into a heated exchange in the House of Commons on Thursday, just minutes after Singh announced his party would not be supporting the Conservatives' first non-confidence motion against Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government.
The head of Via Rail repeatedly told MPs a train delay over the Labour Day long weekend was an isolated incident, despite a similar event two years ago.
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Ontario’s Minister of Sport, Neil Lumsden, will donate his brain to research.
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Lebanese authorities on Thursday banned walkie-talkies and pagers from being taken on flights from Beirut airport, the National News Agency reported, after thousands of such devices exploded during a deadly attack on Hezbollah this week.
If something looks too good to be true, it might be. That's the message from Saskatchewan horticulturists after customers have come into their stores hoping to buy purple apple trees this month.
NASA scientists have successfully replicated spider-like shapes found on the surface of Mars in a laboratory setting for the first time.
Lawyers representing the producers of 'Russians at War' say they may pursue legal action against Ontario's public broadcaster for pulling support for the controversial documentary amid outcry from the Ukrainian community and some Canadian politicians.
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British actress Florence Pugh has revealed that shaving her head for her latest movie role was a 'really bizarre' experience that sent her body 'into a bit of trauma.'
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Nike Inc. said Thursday it has named Elliott Hill as its president and CEO, replacing John Donahoe, who will retire next month.
Maple Leaf Foods asserted its innocence in an alleged bread price-fixing scheme ahead of a hearing to determine whether it will be added to an ongoing class-action lawsuit.
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Shohei Ohtani became the first major league player to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in a season, with the Los Angeles Dodgers star going deep twice to reach the half-century mark and swiping two bags to get to 51 against the Miami Marlins on Thursday.
Vancouver Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko says he's been working his way back from a rare lower-body muscle injury since being sidelined in last season's playoffs.
Toronto Blue Jays shortstop Bo Bichette returned to the 10-day injured list Thursday due to a right middle finger fracture.
An Ontario man says it is 'unfair' to pay a $1,500 insurance surcharge because his four-year-old SUV is at a higher risk of being stolen.
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The plant was expected to produce batteries for a million electric vehicles a year. Once up and running, it was supposed to create hundreds of permanent jobs in a small southeastern Ontario municipality. But two years later, spending on the construction of the Umicore plant has been delayed in what the company calls a "significant worsening of the EV market context."
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The search for a missing ancient 28-year-old chocolate donkey ended with a tragic discovery Wednesday.
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In the middle of the small crowd — near the tents, the lineup of kids awaiting face painting, the snack table — stood a jubilant Chiara Padovani. 'When I say 'tenant, you say 'power,'' she commanded to several dozen tenants, who chanted back with gusto. What looked like a summer block party in front of two north-end Toronto apartment buildings last month was a celebration of what renters who withheld payments for months called a 'huge victory.'
We've produced a special webcast edition of CTV News Calgary for Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024.
The Parole Board of Canada says a man who assaulted a young pregnant woman and left her for dead remains too dangerous to be released into the community.
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Thomas Hamp says he believed secret police were out to kidnap, torture, and kill him when he fatally stabbed his girlfriend Emily Sanche in February of 2022.
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James Bay Ontario Provincial Police have charged four commercial vehicle drivers with impaired, including one who was hauling 36,000 kilograms of ammonia hydrate.
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Police were focusing their attention on the northeast corner of Richmond and Horton, with members of the emergency response unit taking up positions at the scene.
Shedden, southwest of London, hasn’t changed much in decades – but word is spreading that hundreds of new residents could soon be calling the town home.
Two men from Barrie have been charged after a deadly shooting at a park in Keswick on Wednesday.
A growing group of brides and wedding photographers from across the province say they have been taken for tens of thousands of dollars by a Barrie, Ont. wedding photographer.
Ontario Provincial Police executed a search warrant in Walkerton.
Standing up, speaking out, and showing solidarity — survivors and supporters gathered in the core to take back the night in Windsor. The city is just one of a growing list of communities that have declared intimate partner violence (IPV) an epidemic.
The Windsor Police Service (WPS) has seized over $56,000 in drugs and have arrested one suspect.
SERVEONE Canada, a global procurement solution company, has begun Canadian operations in Tecumseh.
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The Union of B.C. Municipalities is asking the provincial government to make transit free for teenagers.
To appreciate why Mimi Vandermolen is so pleased to notice one particular vehicle she’s walking past, you need to know that seeing this many cars in one place would have been unimaginable when she was growing-up in the post-war Netherlands.
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The Red Bridge, a historic landmark in Kamloops, B.C., was completely destroyed by fire early Thursday morning.
Animal protection officers in British Columbia have rescued three pit bulls – including one that gave birth to 10 puppies – from a rat-infested home in Kelowna.
A Vulcan, Alta., man has been charged with a Lethbridge woman's murder after her body was found in the Oyen area.
A Lethbridge couple got a good reminder as to why you should keep your vehicle doors locked at all times.
Lethbridge residents who live near the police range can expect to hear plenty of shots fired Wednesday and Thursday.
A new community health profile in the Algoma District shows the area is significantly below provincial averages in a number of health metrics.
North Bay Police Service says one person has died following an industrial accident at the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission Rail Yard on Tuesday.
Three northern Ontario residents are charged with drug trafficking after the vehicle they were in got stuck along a bush road off Highway 17 on Monday.
Newfoundland and Labrador's chief medical officer is monitoring the rise of whooping cough infections across the province as cases of the highly contagious disease continue to grow across Canada.
A 16-year-old biennial event aimed at fostering business in the country's eastern Arctic and northern regions has been cancelled indefinitely as a dispute unfolds between Inuit in Canada and a Labrador group claiming to share their heritage.
Jim Lester’s farm hopped on the cow-cuddling trend in early August, and his time slots have been pretty well sold out ever since.
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